HP's FAQ about distribution of Agilent
shares
(Apr 25, 2022)
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This information is no longer available on the HP
website. Retrieved by HPAA from the public Internet Archive "Wayback Machine" on
Apr 25, 2022.
The automated Internet Archive system
downloaded this page from the public HP website on Aug 15, 2000 --
shortly after the Agilent stock distribution.
For HP alumni untangling their
stock, comments and highlighting have been added
by HPAA.
Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) About the distribution of Agilent shares
[as of
Aug 15, 2000]
1a. What percentage of the original cost of my HWP shares should be
allocated to the Agilent shares I receive?
On a rounded basis,
- 22% of the original cost of
your HWP shares may be allocated to the aggregate of Agilent shares plus
cash in lieu of fractional shares.
- The remaining 78% may be allocated to the original HWP shares.
If you wish to carry the calculation out to more decimal places, please
consult with your tax advisor and also see the Information Statement
booklet and the U.S. Tax Information sheet. For purposes of this precise
calculation, at market close on June 2, 2000 (the distribution date) the
closing price of HWP common stock on the "regular way" market was
$142.06 and on the "ex-dividend market" was $111.00, and the closing
price of Agilent common stock was $81.875. Because a variety of means of
calculating the allocation of tax basis may be permissible, if you
choose not to use the 22%/78% calculation set forth above, please
discuss your particular calculation with your tax advisor.
[HPAA comment: See the detailed
HP Tax Letter
]
1b. What average per share price was used to determine the cash I
received in lieu of fractional shares?
For the distribution to HP shareowners of cash in lieu of fractional
shares, Harris Trust & Savings Bank, HP's distribution agent, aggregated
all fractional shares into whole shares and sold them in the open market
on behalf of HP shareowners. The net proceeds of these sales averaged
$77.0068 per share.
1c. Do I use the dates on which I purchased my HWP shares to determine
the capital gain/loss holding period of the Agilent shares I received in
the distribution?
Yes. The purchase dates of the
HWP shares are used to determine the holding periods of the distributed
Agilent shares.
1d. When did I need to own HP shares in order to receive Agilent
shares?
You must have been an owner of record of HP shares by 5:00 PM Eastern
Daylight Time on the record date,
May 2, 2000, in order to receive Agilent shares. Shareowners
should be aware that if they sold HP shares between May 2 and June 2,
2000, they may have sold their right to Agilent shares in the
distribution. To learn more about this subject, please see question 14
below.
2. How many shares of Agilent was I entitled to receive in the
distribution?
The distribution was made on the basis of .3814 of a share of Agilent
for each HP common share outstanding. To calculate the exact number of
Agilent shares for each HP share, we divided the 380 million Agilent
shares to be distributed by the outstanding HP shares on the record
date. For purposes of calculating the distribution ratio, as of the
record date, HP had approximately 996,329,000 shares of common stock
outstanding. [HPAA comment: See the detailed
HP Tax Letter
]
Stock certificates for whole shares of Agilent and cash payments for
fractional shares were mailed to HP shareowners by our transfer agent,
Harris Trust and Savings Bank.
[HPAA comment: More info in answers 3a, 3b, 9, and 13 below.]
3a. When were my Agilent shares mailed?
If you hold your HP shares in a
certificate, shares of Agilent were mailed to you on or about June 2,
2000 by HP’s transfer agent, Harris Trust and Savings Bank. If
you have not received your shares, please contact Harris Trust and
Savings Bank at 1-800-286-5977 or 1-312-360-5138.
3b. If I hold my HP shares through my stockbroker, bank or other
nominee, how were my Agilent shares credited to me?
If you hold your HP shares
through a stockbroker, bank or other nominee, that firm should have
credited your Agilent shares to your account.
4. Did the trading price of either HP or Agilent affect the number of
shares I receive?
No, the trading prices of the stocks did not affect the number of shares
you receive.
5. Did the number of HP shares I own increase or decrease after the
distribution?
The distribution did not change
the number of HP shares you own. If you have an HP certificate, you will
not need to send in your certificate.
If you are an employee or former employee of Hewlett Packard or Agilent
and own shares through HP’s benefit plans, please visit the HP.Now
employee web site or the Agilent Employee Information and Resource
Center web site.
[HPAA comment: Questions 6 and 7 are missing from the original page. The
questions were renumbered in the May 12, 2015
mangled
version of the page. No additional questions were added.]
8. Where can I get more information about Agilent?
Information about Agilent Technologies is available on Agilent’s website
at www.agilent.com , or you can call 1-877-942-4200. In addition,
information about Agilent will be included in the Information Packet
mailed to shareowners of record in early May. [We have a copy here:
HP
Information Statement ]
9. Who should I call with questions about my stock account or my share
certificates?
If you hold your shares in a
brokerage or bank account, please contact your representative at that
bank or brokerage firm.
If
you hold share certificates issued by Hewlett-Packard in your name, or
if you are enrolled in HP’s Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase
Program, please call Harris Trust and Savings Bank at
1-800-286-5977 or 1-312-360-5138.
10. Will I still receive my HP cash dividend on HP shares?
In May, the Board of Directors of HP declared a regular cash dividend of
16 cents per share on the company’s common stock. This dividend, the
third in HP’s fiscal year 2000, is payable on July 12, 2000 to
shareowners of record on June 21, 2000. So, if you are an HP shareowner
of record as of June 21, 2000, you will receive the cash dividend.
In the future, payment and amount of dividends by HP will continue to be
subject to the discretion of the board of directors and will depend on
results of operations, financial conditions, cash requirements, future
prospects and other factors deemed relevant by the board.
11. Is the distribution tax-free? [HPAA comment: See the detailed
HP Tax Letter
]
The U.S. Internal Revenue Services has ruled in a private letter that
the distribution of Agilent will be free of U.S. federal income taxes.
This means that for U.S. federal income tax purposes,
HP shareowners will not
recognize a gain or loss when they receive Agilent shares.
However, depending upon your cost basis in HP, a gain or loss may be
recognized upon sale of your Agilent shares. Any cash received in
lieu of fractional shares will be taxable for U.S. federal income tax
purposes.
International shareowners should consult with a personal tax advisor to
determine the taxable effect of this distribution. It is expected that
in most jurisdictions outside the United States, the distribution may be
taxable.
12. Was I entitled to receive the Agilent stock dividend for all HP
shares that I own?
You must have been a shareowner of HP as of 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight
Time on May 2, 2000 (the record date) to receive Agilent shares. This
means that you must have owned Hewlett Packard Company in either a
certificate form, as an account with Harris Bank, (our transfer agent)
or in your brokerage or bank account. If you hold a mutual fund that
owns Hewlett Packard Company, you need to check with your mutual fund
advisor to see if you received a distribution of Agilent shares.
If you are an employee or former employee of Hewlett Packard or Agilent
and own shares through HP’s benefit plans, please visit the HP.Now
employee web site or the Agilent Employee Information and Resource
Center web site.
13. If a mutual fund I am invested in holds Hewlett Packard shares,
was I entitled to receive Agilent shares?
If you hold a mutual fund that
owns Hewlett Packard Company, you need to check with your mutual fund
advisor to see if you will be receiving a distribution of Agilent
shares.
If you are an employee or former employee of Hewlett Packard or Agilent
and own shares through HP’s benefit plans, please visit the HP.Now
employee web site or the Agilent Employee Information and Resource
Center web site. Restricted shares held under the employee stock
purchase plan or one of HP’s incentive stock plans were treated
differently.
14. Why were there different stock symbols for HP?
The difference in the stock symbols is due to the creation of two
markets in HP stock: a "regular way" and an "ex-distribution" market.
Between the record date and the distribution date, the regular way
market traded HP stock under the ticker symbol HWP and included an
entitlement to receive the dividend of Agilent shares. The
ex-distribution market traded HP stock under the ticker symbol HWP WI
(i.e. without the distribution of Agilent shares) and did not include an
entitlement to receive shares of Agilent. Since the HWP shares include
Agilent shares, the price of these shares was higher than the price of
the HWP WI shares.
People who purchased shares of HP common stock under the ticker HWP will
receive Agilent shares shortly after the distribution. People who sold
shares of HP common stock under the ticker HWP sold their entitlement to
receive shares of Agilent.
The ex-distribution market ended at market close on June 2, 2000 and HP
again trades only under one ticker symbol, HWP.
15. Why were there different stock symbols for Agilent?
The difference in the stock symbols was due to the creation of two
markets in Agilent stock: a "regular way" and a "when-issued" market.
Between the record date and the distribution date, the regular way
market traded the Agilent stock that was not held by HP under the ticker
symbol A. Under the ticker symbol, A WI, the when-issued market traded
the Agilent stock owned by HP that was distributed to HP shareholders.
Those who purchased shares in this market were entitled to receive
shares of Agilent after the June distribution.
The when-issued market ended at market close on June 2, 2000 and Agilent
again trades only under the ticker symbol, A.
16. Why was the HWP WI price different from the HWP price?
HWP included the attached value of the Agilent shares, so its price was
higher.
HWP WI represented HP without the value of the Agilent shares, so its
price was lower.
Source:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815081300/http://www.hp.com/financials/textonly/agilentfaq.html
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